PATH could be targeted for privatization, service reduction under Port Authority plan embraced by governors
JERSEY CITY — A report by the Port Authority that’s supported by the governors of New York and New Jersey floats the idea of eliminating overnight PATH service and turning over the system’s operation to an outside organization — public or private.
Those ideas, along with others in the 99-page report that was released Saturday night, were slammed today by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who said curtailing service on one of the region’s most vital transportation links would hurt not just his city’s economy, but the state as a whole.
“I think that all too often politicians assume the public is stupid, and this is an example of that,” said Fulop, a Port Authority critic whose administration in May filed a $400 million lawsuit against it alleging owed back taxes. “The fact that you’re releasing a report in between Christmas and New Year’s, the fact that there are components of it that are nothing more than a mere power grab.”
But Port Authority Chairman John Degnan, who was on the panel that prepared the report, said the recommendations are not final and that curtailing service is one of several options to save money.